Smart grid

Cisco Systems and Ecotality, an electric-vehicle charging station company, are collaborating to make EVs part of a home energy-management system.

Ecotality's Blink home EV charging station will connect to Cisco's Home Energy Controller, a touch-screen device for managing home energy, as part of early electric vehicle trials with consumers.

The integration will let electric car owners schedule charging to take advantage of preferential rates offered by utilities for electric vehicles, typically after 9 p.m. From the Cisco home energy dashboard, there is an application to monitor and program how an electric car is charged, according to the … Read more

Scientists from Stanford University and the University of California at Davis have crunched the numbers and come up with a plan for how the world might economically and feasibly make the move to renewable energy in the next 20 to 40 years.

In a two-part paper (Part 1 PDF, Part 2 PDF) published in the journal Energy Policy, Mark Z. Jacobson and Mark A. Delucchi show in great detail the who, what, where, and how of implementing a renewable energy-run world. It includes solutions to economic, material, and transport issues.

Jacobson, an atmospheric scientist and professor of civil and environmental … Read more

A new type of solar thermal system for homes that can provide heat, hot water, and electricity is being tested in Boulder, Colo., over the next few months.

Cool Energy says its SlowFlow system could provide the average U.S. home with 80 percent of its heat, 100 of its hot water, and 60 percent of its electricity needs.

It's being developed with help from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and electricity and natural gas giant Xcel Energy.

The system consists of solar collectors, a Stirling engine, a hot water heater, a space heater, an insulated … Read more

Scientific Conservation, a company that specializes in energy consumption forecasting, has received $15.65 million in Series B funding, the start-up announced Tuesday.

The company is just one example of the way traditional IT is now intersecting with green tech.

Scientific Conservation offers software as a service (SaaS) that allows the company to monitor a building's energy consumption in real-time, apply that data to energy management diagnostics and analytics, and then use that created knowledge to predict the building's energy consumption in the future.

The result is a customized energy plan for a building that is always being … Read more

The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) announced Thursday it will install a 1.5-megawatt utility-scale storage battery for its Koloa substation.

The battery storage unit made by Xtreme Power will be used to store and release energy to accommodate the intermittent nature of a nearby solar plant planned for installation on the island of Kauai.

The 3-megawatt Kauai solar plant, which will be built and run by Poipu Solar, will be capable of generating enough electricity to power over 850 Hawaiian homes when running at full capacity.

The solar installation coincides with Hawaii's goal to be generating 70 percent … Read more

Control4 spread further into energy on Wednesday, announcing deals with Silver Spring Networks and utility AEP around its home energy management system.

The home automation company said that Silver Spring Networks, which provides a networking card for smart meters and business software for utilities, will resell Control4's products. Through its deal with Control4, Silver Spring Networks said it can now offer potential utility customers a consumer-facing energy dashboard and home networking system.

With the Control4 Energy Management System 100, consumers can get up-to-the-minute information on electricity usage and program wireless thermostats and other connected devices.

Silver Spring said it … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Consumer electronics companies used to tout the energy efficiency of individual gadgets. Now many want to make your whole house more efficient.

This year's Consumer Electronics Show saw a blending of the consumer electronics and the energy businesses, often in the form of a smart home filled with connected devices.

There was still plently of outwardly green gear on the show floor, such as solar-powered radios and energy-saving power strips. But CES also saw more "home of the future" displays with electric-vehicle chargers, smart appliances, efficient LED lights, and even small wind turbines and solar panels. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--General Electric today said the next phase of its $200 million entrepreneurship challenge will focus on home energy management.

GE at the Consumer Electronics Show said that the contest, called "Ecomagination Challenge: Powering Your Home," will begin January 18 and run through to March 1.

In July, GE launched the first phase of the contest with four venture capital companies to seek out business ideas for modernizing the grid from the general public. In November, it said it will provide grants or invest directly in several power grid-related companies, covering everything from way-out ideas such as solar-powered … Read more

Some Martha's Vineyard households will soon be receiving smart appliances from General Electric as part of a pilot project, GE announced today.

It's part of mission to promote smart grid and renewable energy use on the island that has been spearheaded by The Vineyard Energy Project (VEP), a nonprofit community energy group started in West Tisbury, Mass., and the island's energy co-op, Vineyard Power.

In December 2010, VEP was granted almost $800,000 toward its goal of deploying smart grid technologies on the island, including smart appliances, via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.… Read more